Page Content (OCR)
"Without this, we are stuck." Some have therefore proposed that the United Nations might be a logical focal point for the further study of UFOs, since the phenomenon occurs worldwide, transcending national boundaries. Theoretically that makes sense, but its effectiveness would be aeo4aa aaa 14 highly unlikely, given the many preoccupations and_ bureaucratic headaches of today's world body in a time of increasing danger and the and bureaucratic hardship. However, at an earlier time, in a relatively simpler world, an approach was made at the United Nations for just this purpose. Seven years after Project Blue Book was shut down, J. Allen Hynek and others attempted to establish an international investigative body within the halls of the UN. In 1978, Sir Eric M. Gairy, then prime minister of Grenada, proposed to the United Nations General Assembly that the UN establish "an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating, and disseminating the results of research into Unidentified Flying Objects and related phenomena." [1] With his associates Dr. Jacques Vallee and Lieutenant Colonel Larry Coyne, a U.S. Army pilot whose helicopter almost collided with a UFO in 1973, Dr. Hynek requested—in a UN hearing—that the United Nations provide a framework in which the many scientists and specialists around the world working on the UFO phenomenon could share their studies. He pointed out that UFOs had been reported in 133 member states of the UN and that there existed over one thousand cases where "there appears physical evidence of the immediate presence of the UFO. In significant numbers, these reports had been made by highly responsible persons—astronauts, radar experts, military and commercial pilots, officials of governments, and scientists, including astronomers." [2] Despite these concerns, State Department teletypes show that the United States delegation at the UN was dismissive of Gairy's effort, calling it a "blitzkrieg sales pitch" [3] and attempting to prevent his resolution from ever passing. A confidential message sent to the U.S. Secretary of State from the UN mission made an "action request" seeking "instructions on U.S. position to be taken in this matter as well as desired level of visibility. Last year Grenada requested our support and Misoff had to scramble hard behind the scenes to water down the resolution and, in effect, delay a vote for one year. Another consideration is whether to issue a disclaimer on statements made by U.S. nationals on the Grenadian delegation." [4] Later, U.S. members conducted "negotiating sessions" with delegates from other missions, "in an attempt to arrive at a mutually acceptable compromise solution to the problem." The plan was devised to refer the Grenada resolution to the Outer Space Committee without a mandate to engage in a study. This would alleviate "the need to vote on a members conducted sessions" with the UFO issue," as Bermudez describes it.